By Lynn Heatley. Many times in my own life and as I have ministered to others, I have seen huge offenses towards God arise because of places of pain and God being One who was perceived to have done nothing to stop such pain from occurring.
There is a particular scripture that God used to bring revelation to me and also reveal one of the enemy’s strategies against us…it is found in Job 1:22 (which was after the time that great calamity of loss of Job’s family and his possessions occurred):
“In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with doing wrong”.
The Lord began to reveal to me how the enemy (who is called the accuser of the brethren) comes to us in times of vulnerability and tries to convince us that it is all God’s fault and that God cannot be trusted. If we believe this, then God becomes our enemy instead of our Friend and we will turn from God in a time when we most need Him. If God becomes our enemy or on a minimum level, One who we can’t trust, then we have just lost our only lifeline to the One who alone can bring us through our present calamity. No matter what happens to us, our testing usually always comes in the area of “Will I still trust that God is a good God”? Habakkuk 3 says it well…”though there be no fruit on the vine (evidence of good things happening externally)….yet, will I rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of my salvation.
By understanding how the enemy tries to separate us in our times of confusion and pain from our beloved Lord and Friend, it will help us be aware of this tactic and to cling to Him in new ways.
If you find yourself angry and distant with God, know that God can handle your anger and begin your friendship again with Him, He understands where you are. Some times, I have found it valuable in times like this to renounce some lies that I have believed and to confess some truths that I need to re-anchor into. Whatever the case, I know that the Lord leads us according to His lovingkindness and He will direct our paths.
I hope this is helpful to some of you. I have found it very life-giving when I am going through very difficult times….to just continue to believe that no matter what….God is still good and His love remains constant.